Apple Is Giving up on the Stickers

Since the start of 2024, slowly but surely, Apple has been phasing out logo stickers from product boxes to meet its self-imposed goal of removing plastic from product boxes.

The move breaks away with a decades-old tradition dating as far back as the Apple II in 1997, which included stickers with “Apple Computer” printed on them. The modern transparent logo sticker first appeared in the original iPhone’s box in 2007. Since then, stickers have been a regular occurrence, whether it be pricey Macs or accessories like AirPods or HomePod mini. Sometimes, they’re color-matched to the product, like with the now-discontinued iMac Pro.

The practice became something of a tradition, as fans would slap these stickers on their vehicles as a way of recognizing each other and telegraphing their brand loyalty to the world. In return, Apple got free advertising spots on people’s cars, computers, and other objects. In the early days, seeing an Apple sticker on the car in front of you was a tell-tale sign that the driver was a proud Mac owner. However, as Apple’s influence exploded in the iPhone era, the stickers lost their cachet and some of the rebellious vibe associated with them.

Nowadays, it’s not uncommon to see people from all walks of life using Apple devices, and some of them still like to put these stickers on laptops, cars, luggage, house windows, musical instruments, etc. What I’ve yet to see, however, is Microsoft or Google stickers on vehicles.

Apple hasn’t said that stickers are going away, but all signs point to that. Vision Pro arrived in January without stickers in the box, and so did the M4 iPad Pro and iPad Air in May and almost every other Apple product released in 2024, including the iPhone 16 lineup, the new Mac mini, and the latest M4 Macs. The only Mac model still shipping with stickers is the MacBook Air, but that will probably change when the laptop gets its M4 upgrade in 2025. If a few dozen Apple stickers you’ve likely accumulated over the years isn’t enough, you can still get them when buying new Apple hardware.

According to a memo Apple distributed to retail employees in May 2024, obtained by 9to5Mac, Apple’s stores have a “limited quantity” of stickers to give shoppers upon request. However, Apple doesn’t distribute stickers to its carrier partners and sellers like Amazon and Best Buy, and it’s unclear how long its brick-and-mortar stores will continue offering them. You also can’t get them if you order Apple gear for home delivery.

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The memo notes that stickers are being removed from packaging as part of Apple’s environmental goals toward completely plastic-free packaging by the end of 2025. To that end, the company recently switched from plastic to wax paper for the backing layer for the stickers and has continued cutting down on plastic. For example, Apple eliminated the outer plastic wrap from iPhone boxes in 2021, replacing it with tear-away paper adhesive strips.

The following year, it started returning repaired iPhones to owners in brown eco-friendly packaging instead of white boxes wrapped in plastics. Apple also replaced other packaging components with fiber-based alternatives, including product trays, screen films, and foam cushioning. In fact, the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro packaging is entirely fiber-based.

“Weʼve also continued our work to address the remaining plastic in the smaller parts of our packaging, like labels and lamination, with the packaging innovations focused on printing directly on boxes and using overprint varnish,” notes Apple’s 2024 Environmental Progress Report. Starting with the iPhone 14 family, Apple has used a custom high-resolution printer to digitally print labels on the back of iPhone boxes.

Apple 

In 2023, plastic accounted for just three percent of all its product packaging, down from four percent in 2021 and 21 percent in 2015. “We’re closing in on our goal to remove plastics from our packaging by transitioning to 100 percent fiber-based packaging by 2025,” it reads. As part of the same environmental initiative, the company has stopped bundling iPhones with chargers and headphones while redesigning iPhone packaging to be much thinner in order to help reduce its carbon footprint when shipping iPhones around the world.

Source: MacRumors, 9to5Mac